Melting Snow
by JayRayGee
Summary: When Weiss is betrayed by her own family, she has no choice but to run. However, with her father running the largest Dust Company in Remnant and she being one of the most well recognized names and faces when you hear the name Schnee, where will she hide from her father?
1. Chapter 1: The Knight

**A/N:**

 **Be me, 16, sitting in class one day. I had just started watching RT so I didn't know how people were. The day was February 1, 2015. I'm looking at some RT things and see someone called Monty Oum had died.** _ **Wow, that's sad**_ **I said to myself and went about my day. Now be me again. Now it's April 2014 and I've begun to watch RWBY and I see the creator is Monty Oum and I realized how important he actually was and I begin to feel bad for how I reacted to Monty's death. Now it February 1, 2017, two years later and I truly understand what this man has done for the RT community and just the animation world in general.**

 **So, on this two-year anniversary is Monty Oum Create Day. So, if you are reading this on February 1, create something. Anything. A picture, a story, an AMV, a poem. Something. It doesn't have to be RT related. Just create something.**

 **This story is something I thought of last night and thought I should post the first chapter today. I don't know how long this story will last but I'll try to make it longer than Betrayal of a Rose. This story is about Weiss and her family so let's begin**

 **Started Writing: February 1, 2017 at noon:**

The spotlight on Weiss moved and the White Knight appeared. She stood about 15 feet tall and held a large sword. Weiss had fought him before but he was never this tall. He was always either her height or a bit higher, but never 4 times her height. She was expecting a hard fight for this was her time to prove to her family that she was a good huntress. She was still 5 years from attending Beacon but she needed to prove that she could take down an attacker well above her skill level so she could be well passed prepared for Beacon. Winter went through the same vigorous tests at her age and passed them with excellence. Weiss, however, was struggling and her father wasn't happy with her performance as of recently. But now was her chance to prove herself to her father as an amazing huntress.

She was a bit over confident and decided she wouldn't use her dust until later in the fight, if necessary. She would only use her skill and glyphs for now to prove that she didn't have to rely on her dust to win every fight. It was her family and some business partners in the arena this time. This was a battle to prove her strength in front of daddy's clients, she was told by Jacques before the fight.

DING!

The bell rang and the knight rushed towards her. She ran at it in return and as it swung its sword, Weiss used her glyphs to gain additional momentum to dart quickly under the sword. As it hit the ground, Weiss moved underneath it and once on the other side, she jumped into the air and struck it in the face with her Myrtenaster. The knight flinched but otherwise was unfazed. It quickly picked up its sword and swung it at Weiss again. Weiss, with no other option at the current moment, blocked the sword but was thrown back a bit. This weaken her aura but only a little but she knew that this would upset her father, who believed in perfection and not having full aura was not perfection.

Weiss didn't let this get to her right now. She was more focused on beating the knight. Once stationary again, she formed some glyphs on the ground to gain a lot of momentum. Once close to knight again, she jumped into the air to strike it again. The knight saw this coming and swung at where it thought she would be. Weiss predicted this and formed a glyph under her feet to jump from it into the air. Leaping way above knight where the sword couldn't reach her easily, she pointed herself straight down. Another glyph appeared beneath her feet and she used it to push off it, straight down. She planned to strike it where it is the weakest, the top of the head. While it was wearing a full head helmet, she knew that the metal would be weaker there compared to the front. This is something her sister told her right before the battle.

So, as she dived bombed towards the knight, she pointed her weapon down and hit the knight perfectly on the top of the head. But instead of at least some penetration, her weapon just bounced off, throwing her balance and skill out the window. Her weapon bounced and scrapped across the top of the knight, causing Weiss to fall face first onto the top of the knight's head. The knight, which was now aware of where she was currently, used its free arm to elbow Weiss, sending her flying uncontrollably towards the ground. She hit hard and rolled a few times. Her aura was now at about half. She knew her father would be really disappointed in her but once again forced the thought out of her head and she stood up.

With half of her aura missing, she knew that she couldn't take too many more hard hits. She realized that she would have to use her dust now, or she would lose this battle. But as she was preparing to use her dust, the knight charged again. Weiss had to act quickly to dodge the attack. She flipped away from the sword and quickly used her dust. Her weapon blade turned a nice solid blue color. Her plan was to freeze the night in place and then attack it so it couldn't move. So, using her glyphs as a speed boost, she darted towards the knight but as she went to attack, the knight moved out the way and swung the sword at her, grinding Weiss plan to a halt. She was once again back on the defensive again and had to try and block the swing. After she blocked, she noticed the knight had moved quite a bit and she had to move quickly to regain trajectory with the knight. But by the time see was in line with him again, the knight swung the sword again. With nowhere to go, Weiss took the full-frontal force of the hit. This sent her flying again. The hit was pretty had and pretty much all of Weiss aura was gone. She tried to stand up but collapsed. Her aura was depleted, meaning the test would end. She had faced defeat before and she knew that a bell would sound and the knight would turn off per-say.

But Weiss didn't hear a bell sound. Instead she heard the sound of the knight's boots clanking against the marble training room floor sprinting towards her. Weiss thought to herself that maybe she had just a tiny bit of aura left so Weiss, using all of her strength, stood back up and tried to strike the knight again. But she was once again struck with the sword and sent flying. Now she knew that she had little aura left for now she couldn't even stand at all. But the knight kept on advancing, still running.

Weiss was now in a panic. _Did the knight malfunction? Did it not hear the bell? Is the aura counter not working properly? Is this part of the test?_ These were all thoughts running through Weiss mind as the knight approached. The only thing Weiss could manage was to roll out of the way of the sword swing. Weiss rolled and while rolling, she quickly took out her scroll to see how much aura she had left. She was shocking to see she had only 8 percent of her aura left, well under the limit for stopping a fight. Weiss knew that another strong hit from the knight would kill her so she had to act fast, for the knight was approaching again. She tried to use her glyphs to stop the knight, but because she was so weak, the knight just plowed through them. The only other option was her dust. We tried to freeze the knight, which worked, but it was too weak to hold the knight in place. He soon broke free and began to charge at again. Weiss once again rolled out of the way and she then took the time to glance up at her father and was mortified by what she saw.

Instead of a panicked father trying to save his daughter, she saw a large grin across his face. An evil grin. Like he was happy to see his daughter struggle. Like he liked to see Weiss in pain. Weiss just looked back in shock, horror, pain, and sadness. She was too caught up in this to hear the knight approaching once again. This time, she didn't even attempt to move and the knight swung his sword at her. The sword hit her in the side and she was thrown into the air like a dog's chew toy. She slammed hard against one of the walls, draining the rest of her aura indefinitely. She fell to the ground and looked up as the knight approach her, this time walking. Weiss tried standing but the pain was too much. She looked around and saw that the doorway exiting the arena was close.

Weiss began to crawl towards the doorway. She was bleeding from her head caused by the hard impact into the wall. She was also bleeding from a wound on her stomach from the hit the knight caused. As she was crawling, she was leaving a nice blood trail. She was inching ever so close to the doorway but the knight was closing in. That's when Weiss heard her father speak.

"Look at her, look at her struggle!" Jacques said, an evil tone to his voice. She was prodding Weiss' mom who just sat there, a monotone facial expression on her. "Weiss, daddy just wants you to know, you were a failure. You were, and always will be, a disappointment."

Weiss tried to ignored her father, like she always did during his lectures. But the words coming out of his mouth hurt more than any enemy could ever do to her. She was a disappointment. She had to follow in Winter's footprints, the prodigy. She was excepted a year early into Beacon due to her fighting skill and Weiss, Weiss barely made it into the most basic huntress school.

But Weiss decided early on that her father wasn't going to define her as a person, define who she was, define who was going to be. So, as Weiss crawl along the marble floor, inching ever so closer to the door, she knew that to make sure her father wasn't going to win was to live through this and make her own path, with or without her father.

However, the knight had gotten a lot close than she thought and she was soon picked up off the ground and held in a death grip on her, almost squeezing the life out of her.

"Yes. Now before I kill you, do you have anything to say to your old man?" Jacques taunted.

"Y-yeah," Weiss chocked out, "This isn't my funeral, it's yours." With that Weiss pointed her Myrtenaster at the ground, near where the knight was standing, and aimed her weapon. Jacques looked down at where she was aiming and saw a pile of powdered dust. Jacques' face quickly changed as her realized what Weiss had done and tried to get the knight to kill her, but it was too late.

Weiss fired off one single round of fire from the tip of her weapon, hitting the pile, causing a small explosion, but one just large enough to throw off the knight. The following cloud of fire dust and smoke blocked Jacques view of the knight but when the smoke did clear, the knight was no longer holding Weiss and she was gone, the door to the outside, blown away.

Weiss had been dropped and used the distraction to run away. Using the wall for support and her weapon as a cane, she quickly made her way out of the arena.

Jacques was now very upset. He had just been embarrassed in front of about 5 clients, all of whom knew what the plan was but now saw him as a weakling, incapable of killing his own daughter. Jacques grabbed his scroll and began shouting.

"I want every guard and every servant looking for Weiss. If found, bring her to me. She is in a large amount of trouble and her punishment will be taken very seriously…"

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, this is going to be a fun story to write. To me, it seems there aren't enough stories about Weiss and her family. So, I came up with this betrayal type story where Jacques in the enemy. Everyone already hates him for being a really shit father so I thought I would make people hate him more.**

 **Also, I really wanted this to come out before Monty Oum Create Day ended, but a bunch of distractions came up so this is going up a few minutes late. I know it's really nothing but I've feel like it was my job to put this out on time. But it will come out at like 12:10 on the 2** **nd** **so I guess it really doesn't matter.**

 **Anyways, follow, favorite, and leave reviews.**

 **Finishing Writing: February 2, 2017 at 12:01 A.M.**

 **Words: 2.2k**

 **Pages: 4**


	2. Chapter 2: The Escape

**A/N:**

 **So, it's been a while for this story and I do have a good excuse for that. A couple, actually. The first one being, and I'm not trying to sound insensitive, but I don't feel like I need to update this one as often as my other stories. This one isn't as popular as my other two stories I'm working on so I'm not under that much stress to post chapter more frequently.**

 **The second reason being that I need time to think about these chapter. This is one of those stories where if I rush it, it's going to be garbage. But if I take my time and plan them out, it has the potential to be amazing. Also, one more thing, someone commented, or reviewed, that this was shaping up to be a good monochrome fanfic. Unfortunately, it's not. There is already a Weiss runs from home and finds Blake fanfic. I found it a couple of days ago, and I'm stating this right now, I am not going to copy or steal any ideas for this story from that one, even though it only has two chapters and hasn't been updated in a year and a half.**

 **Anyways, let's begin**

 **Started Writing: February 23, 2017 at 12:34 A.M.**

Weiss struggled to walk as she tried to make her way back to her room. Her aura was beginning to help her, first allowing her to stand, then walk, but it wasn't working that fast. She still needed the help of her weapon. She used it as a cane as she slowly made her way back to her room.

The wounds were still painful, having sliced deep into her skin. They would need proper medical help if she wanted to survive. The only problem was that almost everyone in the mansion was looking for her, including the doctors. And she was almost 100% sure that they didn't want to face her father's wrath so they wouldn't help her. She slowly hobbled to her room, trying to be as quiet as she could. However, the bloodline following her wasn't helping.

Her room wasn't too far from the arena but it still was far away. It would take her no longer than a minute and a half to reach her room, but that was when she could actually walk. In her current state, it would take her as much as five minutes. If she was spotted by her father or one of the servants, she was fucked. She was too weak to run, let alone fight. Her only hope was to get to her room before anyone else did.

She rounded a corner and saw he room at the end of the hall. _I'm so close_ she thought to herself, _only a bit further…_

"Miss Schnee!" A voice from behind called for her.

 _This is it_ she thought _this is how it all ends_. _Killed by my own father, in my own house._ She tried to walk a bit faster but the footsteps coming from behind her were closing in rapidly.

"Miss Schnee, wait up!"

Weiss tried walking a bit faster but ended up tripping after her weapon got caught in the carpet. She fell hard, landing on her side, causing her to winch in pain. A sharp exhale also escaped her lips after landing.

"Miss Schnee!" The man was basically on top of her now. She closed her eyes, which now had tears in them. She tensed up as she felt a firm grasp on her shoulders. But instead of trying to drag her away like she thought, it was more of gentle grasp. She opened her eyes and was meet with the only pair of eyes she wished to have seen.

"Klein!" She gasped, immediately embracing him.

"Oh, my god Miss Schnee! What happened?! You are bleeding profusely! We need to get you to the medical bay!" Klein said in a hurry.

"No! Just get me to my room." Weiss said.

"But Miss Schnee, you're badly wounded. You need medical help!" Klein persisted.

"Klein! Please…" Weiss was begging at this point.

Klein sighed. "Alright." Weiss knew that the only reason he did it was because her father was paying him so much. _His attitude will change after he hears what happened._

Klein helped Wiess to her feet and walked with her to her room. Once inside, Weiss locked the door and laid down on the bed, blood still seeping from her body. Klein began to perform whatever first aid he could to try and stop the bleeding. He used some bandages he found in her bathroom to stop the bleeding from her stomach.

"This will only be temporary until you get some proper medical help." He said, "Now can you please tell me what happened?"

"Father...tried to kill be in the arena today." Weiss said with a heavy heart.

Klein's attitude changed. He sighed. "I knew something was wrong today. The other servants were talking about taking some of your stuff when you were gone and that they couldn't wait but I hadn't heard that you were leaving anytime soon. Then those business partners showed up almost unannounced. We had little time to prepare but when they did show up, Jacques quickly escorted them to the arena, saying he had a "special" type of fight today. Now it all makes sense…" Klein said.

"Now you know why I can't go to the medical bay. Father is still trying to kill me and going there will only make it harder for me to escape." Weiss said.

"Well here isn't any better. This will be one of the first places he looks." Klein told Weiss.

"Then where should I go?!" Weiss now seemed panicked. "I don't want to die, Klein!"

"Hmm, I would say go the downstairs library, but I don't believe you will make it." Klein walked over to the window. Suddenly, an idea hit him. "Miss Schnee, how long until you can produce glyphs again?"

"I can produce them now, they aren't that strong though. I wouldn't be able to walk across them in midair if that's what you are thinking." Weiss said.

"Can you use them to walk down a wall?" Klein asked.

"No Klein, I can't. I'm not that strong yet." Weiss was getting more panicked.

"Well, what if…" Suddenly, his scroll rang. It wasn't like an actual scroll, more of a really long range walkie talkie. They both looked at it before he answered.

"Hello Mr. Jacques sir, what seems to be the issue?"

Weiss could hear her angry father's muffled voice coming from the other end, but she couldn't understand what he was saying

"What?! Weiss is missing. Sir I had no idea. I get looking for her right away!" Klein said with confidence. More muffled yelling could be heard. "Sir, I'm just cleaning her room. If she was here I would tell you."

Klein looked at Weiss and smiled. Klein had always cared for her, even when she was little. And now, even when faced with Jacques' wrath, he was covering for her. This made Weiss smile.

"Of…of course sir. There would be no problem in you coming in and looking around." This made Weiss smile fade faster than the human eye could blink. Her father was now on his way over to come and look around. She needed to find a way out, and fast. That's when an idea struck her. She was still too weak to have her glyphs support her whole weight, but if she layered a bunch on top of each other and jumped out her window and landed on them, then she would slowly descend to ground level. It wouldn't be smooth, but it just needed to keep her alive.

She sprung from her bed and ran to her closet. She needed some extra clothes to change into, some bandages, and some lien. She also grabbed her weapon and all the saved dust she had for her weapon along with her scroll.

 _Once I get out of here, I'll call_ _Winter. She'll be able to help me, I hope._ She was beginning to lose trust in her own family now. _What if Winter came up with the idea? No, she wouldn't do that. Maybe?_ Weiss was thinking to herself and see ran around her room, gathering things and stuffing them into a small suitcase she could carry.

"No sir, I do not hear that sound." Klein said over the phone. That's when Weiss realized that she was still wearing her heels and they were clicking against the marble floor. She looked at Klein and gave him a "I'm sorry" look. He only smiled back.

She now had everything she needed to escape. She opened her window and climbed onto the window sill. Her room was on the third floor, so she needed a generous number of glyphs to control her fall. She generated about a dozen, spaced out 3 feet apart vertically. She turned to Klein one last time.

"Thank you." She said.

Klein put his hand over the scroll, covering the microphone. "My pleasure, now go!"

Weiss wiped a tear from her eye as she jumped, and just in the nick of time. Not one second later, the door to her room was broken open.

"Where is she?!" Jacques practically screamed at Klein.

"I…I…I don't know what you are talking about." Klein backed up nervously.

"Don't bullshit me, Klein!" Jacques pulled a pistol from his waistband and shot Klein in the left knee. Klein screaming in pain and fell to floor, holding his knee in excruciating pain. Jacques crouched down and put the barrel of his gun under Klein's chin, raising it up to meet his eyes. "Where. Is. Weiss."

Klein looked straight at Jacques. "You'll never kill her…" Klein said, his eyes turning red and his voice changing into a raspier version of himself.

"Wrong answer." Jacques stood up and aimed the gun at Klein forehead.

BANG!

That was all Weiss heard. After landing, she heard her father yelling at Klein. She leaned up against the outside wall and had heard everything. Weiss just starred at the ground. _Klein is dead because of me. Klein is dead because of me. Klein is dead because of me._ This was the only thought going through her head and more tears began to form and fall from her eyes.

"Sweep the yard! Make sure no one no one gets out or in until she is found!" Jacques screaming orders at his servants snapped her back to reality. She needed to get away from her house ASAP. The only problem was that the entire property was surrounded by a high, barbed wire fence teaming with security cameras. But luckily, Weiss knew of a place where the cameras were very sparse. The area was right next to the main road so the guards could cover that area. But after numerous robberies on the SDC by The White Fang, business had gone down so less guards were hired. She had used it before for when she needed to be alone and knew that the personal working there either didn't care or didn't know about it.

There was a drainpipe for the access rain water that lead from just inside the property to about 100 yards away from the fence. The cover was loose and could be easily moved out of the way. There were no camera looking out that way and only one looking at the pipe, but Weiss could easily take it out.

Stealthily, she made her way to the spot and took out the only camera there. No doubt the security would notice the camera going down and send some men to check it out, so Weiss had to act fast. Even in her current state, she was still able to move the cover out of the way easily and move back in place once inside the drainpipe. There was a ladder she had to climb now to get the actual pipe.

It was a small pipe, but with Weiss only being 5 foot 1 inch when she wasn't wearing heels, it made it a little easier. It was still a tight squeeze but nothing Weiss couldn't handle. Soon, she was at the other ladder and climbed up. Slowly, she moved the cover out of the way. Once out of the way, she peaked out. There were no guards yelling or shooting at her. In fact, she didn't see any even looking in her general direction. Taking this as a golden opportunity, she quickly jumped out of the pipe, placed the over back on and moved as fast as she could towards the tree line.

She turned back to look towards the place she called home for so long, now just another house. Everyone in there wanted her dead, her head on a stick, placed at the from entrance. She could only weep softly as she walked away from her so-called home and into the woods as night fell.

Later that night, as Jacques sat his desk, fuming that his pathetic daughter had somehow slipped through his grasp, a knock came at the door.

"Come in." He ordered. A man in a black dress shirt, long black dress pants and wearing a white tie entered. "Mr. Schnee." The man said as he walked towards the desk.

"Mr. Mortla, what news do you have for me regarding Weiss?" Jacques asked. Mason Mortla. He oversaw the security, safety, and well-being of the Schnee family. But all he really did was kill or bring harm to those Jacques thought needed to be taught a lesson. Most of the time it was other companies that where impeding and trespassing onto SDC territory, whether it be taking potential clients and business partners away or threating legal action against them.

"I am sorry to inform you sir, but she got away." Jacques slouched in his chair upon hearing this. "She slipped through our defenses at the main gate."

"Why didn't the guards shoot at her or capture her?" Jacques sounded annoyed.

"She either perfectly timed it or got lucky, but somehow, she slipped out through the drainpipe and out the other side without being seen."

"What about the security cameras? Did they catch which way she went?"

"No sir. There are no cameras pointed towards the area of the pipe. She did take out on camera, but no one noticed for 30 minutes. Those men in charge have been…dealt with." Mortla said.

"Come here." Jacques said. Mortla obeyed, reluctantly.

"Do you remember why I hired you, Mason?" Jacques asked.

"To help protect your family." He replied

"No, the real reason." Jacques said.

"To help you take over all dust companies in Remnant and eliminate those who stand in the way of that."

"Correct. And right now, Weiss stands in the way of achieving that goal. If she goes public with this, it will ruin the company."

"But sir, she's only 12? What real damage can she do…" Mason was cut off when Jacques stood up and grabbed his collar with one hand and pulled him down and slammed his face into the desk. With the other hand, he pulled out a 6-inch knife from under his desk and slammed it into Mason's left hand, which lay flat on the table.

"AHHHHHH!" Mason yelled.

"Feel that pain?" Jacques was whispering in his ear. "That's just a small fraction of the pain you will feel if you do not kill Weiss. She may be only 12, but she can do a lot of damage. Do I make myself clear?" Jacques then twisted the knife, causing it to slightly spin in Mason's hand.

Mason let out a sharp exhale. "Yes sir. She will be dead by the end of the month." Upon hearing this, Jacques pulled the knife out of his hand and sat back down. Mason's body relaxed slightly and he grabbed his hand, which was covered in blood.

"Get out of here. I don't want to see your face until the job is done." Jacques ordered. Mason left without saying another word. After he left, Jacques looked at the papers on his desk.

They were covered in blood, something he was used to.

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, Weiss escaped and Jacques is a monster. Sounds like Volume 4.**

 **I didn't mean for this chapter to be so long but somehow it is over 2600 words. I only meant for it to be maybe 1800 words but that last part with Jacques and Mason added an extra 300 words. Also, what do you think about Mason Mortla? Mortla is the eskimo word for snow laying on dead bodies. Dark, right? Anyways, he is actually going to be the main bad guy in this story, with Jacques calling the shots.**

 **Also, like I pointed out in the story, this isn't the 17-year-old, headed off to Beacon Weiss, it is the 12-year-old, not-as-experienced Weiss so keep that in mind.**

 **One more thing, I'll try to put the next chapter of Salem's Little Secret out by Sunday.**

 **Anyways, Follow, Favorite, and Review**

 **Finished Writing: February 24, 2017 at 9:15 P.M.**

 **Words: 2.8k**


	3. Chapter 3: Recollection

**A/N:**

 **Do you know that feeling when you should be doing something, and you want to be doing that thing, but you find something else that is just a little bit more entertaining than that? That's what writing has been like for me as of late. I need to do it, I want to do it, but World of Tanks on the PC is just a bit more fun. Also, before anyone asks, Tier VI SPG is my highest.**

 **Anyways, yeah. Sorry for not posting as chapter last week and this one is going up late so maybe I'll skip next week so I can get back on track with a new chapter in one of my stories every Saturday or Sunday depending on the circumstances.**

 **Continuing on, I'm writing this very late at night so I'll just write until I either pass out at my desk or I can't think of anything to write. This story is also my least popular story with only about 10 favorites and 17 follows but who am I to deny those select few people who came to read of my stories.**

 **So, let's begin.**

 **Started Writing: March 25, 2017 at 12:54 A.M.**

Weiss crept quietly through the snowy forest, her heels crunching in the snow. She clutched her stomach, for it was still bleeding, but only lightly. It left behind a small blood trail, a drop of blood about every 10 or 15 steps. It was unnoticeable to anyone who wasn't aware she was there, but obvious enough for someone to track her. She followed the long, windy road that lead up to her former home from a safe distance. Far enough back to where someone who was looking couldn't see her, but also close enough to where she could see the road. It also helped that her dress was mostly white, aside from the red patch on her stomach that was slowly giving away her camouflage.

As Weiss followed the road, she saw that the sun was beginning to set. She knew that without proper heating and shelter, she would not survive the night. And she knew if she tried to go back, she would be killed so she needed to either build or find shelter, and fast. She estimated that she had about 30 minutes before the sun sank below the horizon and she could already feel the temperatures begin to drop. She remembered that the car ride up to the house on this road alone was 10 minutes, and that traveling at about 15 miles per hour. And then from there it was another 20-minute car ride to the nearest town. All in all, she knew that trying to navigate her way to the town before the sun set would be impossible. Plus, she figured that her father had sent some of his people to that town to wait for her, so that town was now completely out of the question.

As she pondered on what to do, she realized that time was slipping away and she was just standing there, getting colder and making a larger blood spatter in the snow. She decided to go deeper into the forest to maybe find a cave or some type of shelter to spend the night. She also need to make a fire to keep herself warm. So, Weiss left the sight of the road to go deeper into the forest. Luckily for her, because the area around her house was so cold, Grimm sightings were extremely rare, happening only 4 times since she could remember. So, she didn't have to worry about a Grimm attack.

As Weiss trudged deeper into the forest and getting farther from her only landmark, the road, she began to realize why this might not have been such a good idea. For starters, there seemed to be nothing that could provide her a shelter. No cave, no trees with exposed roots on a hill, no trees that had fallen over a conveniently placed hole in the ground, nothing like the movies. It was just flat, snowy forest for as far as the eye could see. And secondly, the farther she pushed into the forest, the less light followed her. In fact, pretty much all light from the setting sun had disappeared. The sun had set in this part of the woods, Weiss could feel it. The temperature began to fall rapidly, and if that weren't hard enough, a light snowfall had begun. So not only was there no hope for a shelter, but soon all the wood would be covered in snow and it would be unusable. So, Weiss gave up on the shelter idea and decided to just look for dry logs and sticks before the wet snow covered it all. Weiss scoured the area for any type of dry material to use for a fire but this also seemed to be fruitless because everything was already becoming covered in snow. Weiss looked back towards the direction of the setting sun to try and see if she could see it. She could, but only faintly through the trees. She determined that she had maybe 10 minutes before night would really set in and the temperature would drop below zero.

Weiss became more drastic in her attempts to find wood. She tried to reason to herself that maybe the wood that had only been covered for a few moments would still be good, despite being damp when she picked them up. Her thoughts and ideas also became clouded as she panicked, not wanting to die from hypothermia, just a few miles from her home. Tears began to form at her eyes, which only made her colder. The temperature continued to drop as Weiss was now basically running through the woods, trying to stay warm while also looking for something to at least keep her and her clothes dry.

Dry…dry clothes…dry clothes are in the suitcase! That's when Weiss remembered the suitcase she was carrying. She was so caught up in trying to find shelter that she had completely forgotten about the small duffle bag style suitcase she was carrying. It had everything for a fire inside. Dry, flammable items, fuel, as well as a way to light it. Weiss looked around for somewhere to start her fire and saw a large tree about 20 yards ahead of her that had some branches that drooped down a bit. This could be used as a type of shelter. While it could work for now, she wasn't too confident that the weight from the snow wouldn't cause the branches to fall and cover her in snow at some point during the night, but she didn't have time to worry about that now.

Weiss ran over to the tree, crouched down in the snow, opened up her suitcase and pulled out some clothing. She determined that if she could get to that town the next day, she could buy some new clothes, some not so recognizable to the local townspeople that knew her for her outfit that she wore almost every day. Weiss removed an extra pair of undergarments and combat skirt as well as some fire dust. She laid the combat skirt on the snow and sprinkled some of the dust on it, forming a small pile. She pulled her weapon from her sheath on her waist and pointed the tip of it in the small pile before pulling the trigger on the Myrtenaster. There was a small flash the caused Weiss to look away and when she looked back, all the dust was gone and there was a small fire forming on the skirt. Weiss then threw her underwear on the fire, causing it to go out briefly before burning a hole in the panties, making the fire bigger.

Realizing that this was about how big she could make the fire, Weiss got as close to the fire was possible and curled up into a ball. Her stomach had since stopped bleeding but it still hurt, a lot. In her excitement to get the fire started, Weiss failed to notice that the sun had set and the surrounding forest was now dark. The forest was silent except for the sound of her fire. Weiss hadn't anticipated her clothes would burn faster than wood, seeing as it was already dimming. Weiss tossed her bra onto the fire and it got a bit bigger, but not much. Even with the fire, she was still cold, only keeper the closest parts to the fire warm, leaving everything else cold. She tried to warm her hands in the fire, but it didn't help, she was still cold. The snow fall didn't help either. Not only was it making Weiss colder as some snow fell on her and began to pile up, despite her being under a tree, but it was also causing the fire to diminish. Weiss searched through her bag to find more unnecessary clothing. The only thing she could find was another pair of extra undergarments that she quickly through on the fire, causing it to grow bigger.

As Weiss lay in the snow, she thought about what had just happened to her in the last 12 hours. This was her first real time to ponder and reflect on what had occurred to her. She thought about the fight and what she saw from her father and his thought of her. She thought about how Klein had sacrificed his life to save her and that she would never be able to thank him. She reflected on her escape and how lucky she had gotten up until this point. And as she lay under the tree, curled up in a ball around a small fire, in the middle of the woods, trying to fend off death as it was nipping at her heels, she began to cry. This wasn't helping her in any way as it was making her colder but she didn't care. She had to let it out. All her emotions that had been building up through-out the day were finally being let out. Anger, sadness, pain, fear. Everything. All of it was now being given the chance to escape.

At first her cry was quiet, then at a normal speaking tone. It soon turned into a full-on sob and finally, in an attempt to let everything out at once, she screamed at the top of her lungs in pain. Pain for the people she lost, the family she lost, what she had lost. Her innocence, her feeling of safety, her comforting feeling for her family, everything that she held dear was now gone. She wasn't even sure Winter was a safe bet now. By now, Jacques had probably told her that she had "run-away" and "needed to be brought back to house for punishment". So, now she had no family, no plans, and nowhere to go. She was all alone in this world, nothing left to comfort her. Weiss continued to cry until she cried herself to sleep, cold and alone.

Meanwhile, back at the Schnee household, Security Officers Groves and Tullson were standing guard, watching the main gate. They stood on a raised platform, watching the dark forest for any movement. A small lantern was their only light source as they huddled together in the cold, talking about the day's events.

"Dude, today was a total shit storm." Groves started out.

"Yeah, first that bitch of a child somehow escaped being killed, by Jacques of all people!" Tullson said.

"Then, Klein had to die because he was protecting her. He was so chill. Sucks he had to go." Said Groves.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure everyone will miss him." Tullson said with a tone of sadness in his voice.

"Then, Mortla caught Hagler and Maddox sleeping on the job. Those idiots didn't stand a fucking chance." Groves laughed a bit.

"Finally, Mortla got into deep shit for not catching Weiss. Now we are on guard duty and it's fucking snowing. What's next?" Tullson asked Groves.

Then, as if someone was listening to their conversation, a high-pitched scream of pain shattered the otherwise calm night. It made both security officers jump and turn towards the sound. It was far off but clearly heard. The scream lasted about 3 seconds for dying down, making the dark forest quiet once again.

"Bro, what the fuck was that?" Tullson asked.

"Sounded like a Beowulf." Groves responded.

"No, it can't be. Beowulfs cries are more of a howl, and that sounded like a girl…" Tullson paused and looked at Groves. It hit both of them at the same time. In a flash, Groves grabbed his radio to tell Mortla while Tullson raced down the stairs and into the guard shack just below them and grabbed two rifles from the gun rack.

"Mortla! Me and Tullson just heard a scream coming from the woods. A girl screaming." Groves said over the radio.

"Yeah, I heard it too. I'm coming to you guys. Tell all the other guards. We're not letting her get away." Mortla said from the other side of the radio.

By now, Tullson had returned with two fully loaded dust rifles and was ready to go. Groves grabbed one of the rifles and switched the channel of the radio.

"Attention all Schnee Security Officers. We are starting a…special hunt right now. A little girl, I think we all know who, seems to have…run away from home. And as the security here, it is our job to retrieve her and bring her back "safely". So, for anyone interested, the "hunt" begins in 5 minutes. Be at the main gate with a loaded weapon and little concern for human life. Oh, and one more thing. Jacques wants her back, alive. But he didn't state in what condition…"

 **Author's Note**

 **Weiss is not in a good place right now, don't you think?**

 **I'm really starting to enjoy writing this series. I don't know how long it will last but I can assure you it will be longer than Betrayal of a Rose. In fact, I think all my stories are going to try to be longer than that. BoaR was pretty short. Anyways, before you review this, let me explain a few things: 1) Not everyone hates Weiss but for plot convenience, pretty much all of security does because to them, she is a little spoiled brat. And that applies for the staff too. 2) Weiss is 12 so if she does something really stupid, it may be because she isn't as smart or experienced. Just a friendly reminder.**

 **Finally, I do have some plans for this story that may or may not have to do with meeting younger versions of other people that may or may not be well known in this universe but that won't come until later, if it does happen.**

 **Anyways, Follow, Favorite, and Review.**

 **P.S. Do you care about the start and end dates/times and the word count? I'm starting to feel that this is unnecessary.**

 **Finished Writing: March 25, 2017 at 2:16 P.M.**

 **Words: 2.5k**


	4. Chapter 4: The Chase

**A/N:**

 **1 month. That's how long it's been since I updated a story. Not just this story, but ANY of my stories. In between school and getting a job, my time for writing has been cut sharply. And even though I try to write as often as I can, most of the time, I lack the motivation after a day of work. Plus, that motivation only comes back at around 2:30 in the morning when I'm about to go to bed.**

 **But on the upside, I currently have 15 ideas for fanfics. Some of them are continuations of comics that the artist never finished that my friends want me to add on to. Some are details, added onto an already finish comic, but most are original ideas that come from me when I am lying in bed trying to sleep. And no, I won't start all 15 right now and never finish any of them. I plan on only working on three stories at a time and only start a new one when I finish one. In other words, I'm not going anywhere for a while.**

 **Anyways, the story. I'm trying to make this more interesting for you, the reader. I plan on a lot of things happening in this story so it might be pretty long, maybe upwards of 20 – 30 chapters. But unlike most of my stories where I have the beginning and end planned out, of this one I don't have an ending planned out, which could be good since I won't be stuck to a predetermined ending and can take it in any direction I want.**

 **Let's Begin**

 **Starting Writing: May 3, 2017 at 1:24 P.M.**

A light snow fall had slightly covered the ground. The holes where Weiss' footprints lay were being slowly filled in. The fire had been long put out by the snow and was no longer a source of warmth. The moon was high in the sky and provided some light as it shone down from above. Weiss was now asleep under the tree that, for the most part, had protected her from the snow fall. The temperature was well below freezing and without the fire for warmth, Weiss had resorted to only being able to use her body heat for warmth now. Even with her being raised in these frigged conditions, she was still freezing cold.

Weiss had basically cried herself to sleep that night. Her tears had even fallen off her face and froze in the snow, or had frozen to her face. She lay in the fetal position on her side, trying to get as much warmth from her own body as possible. The snow piled on top of her wasn't helping in the slightest and while the snow was soft to lay on, she knew that she couldn't stay there for long.

Weiss usually was a heavy sleeper, sleeping through most of the commotion that happened at her house. But right now, as she lay vulnerable in the snow, she was just barely asleep. A branch falling from a tree due to the weight of the snow on top of it could have woken her up. But she lay it, shivering in the cold, her aura trying to fight off the possibility of frostbite.

Meanwhile, a quarter mile north of Weiss, a small army of 25 security guards led by Mortla was headed her way. They were spaced out with about ten feet between each of them. They had heard the faint scream from her an hour before and where no in the process of tracking her down. Even these men, who were in multiple layers of heavy coats, were freezing their asses off. They all believe that this was a recovery mission, that all they would find was a body, frozen solid, lying still in the snow. But still, they kept their guard up and weapons at the ready. They communicated only by walkie-talkie to try to keep the noise down. For this was a Schnee huntress in-training and if anyone could survive these conditions, it would be her. And the only way to possible kill one was by a sneak attack

"Mortla." One of the men said over the walkie-talkie.

"Yeah?" Mortla replied.

"How much further should we look? She would have made it only another mile before night fell."

"We keep looking until we find her. Remember, this is Weiss, not some random person. She has trained in this snowy environment all her life. She probably knows the terrain better than we do."

"Sir, with all due respect, I don't believe any of us she will survive the night. It would be better if we came back in the daytime when it's at least a bit warmer out and recover her body then."

"Fine. You can go back and explain to Mr. Schnee why we came back empty handed. And if anyone else wants to do the same you are welcome to as well." A silence fell over the radio. Jacques was already in a pretty bad mode and no one wanted to piss him off even more. "That's what I thought. Now keep looking. We have to be close."

Meanwhile, Weiss, who was only about 250 yards away at the point, was still asleep. She had fallen a bit deeper into her sleep, but it might have just been from her body beginning to shut down. She had been lying in the snow for nearly 2 hours now and her already weaken aura was beginning to fade. She could begin the feel the onset of frostbite in her fingertips but was too cold to do anything about it. The snowfall had heavied a bit more and was falling at a more rapid pace. Even more snow was piling on Weiss and she could feel it weighing her down.

Weiss was now a bit more awake but was still too cold to move. The only movement she did was tighten up a bit more to try to pull more body heat but she knew that she wouldn't last long in these conditions.

 _First, my family tries to kill me._ Weiss thought to herself. _Then, I escape in the woods surrounding my house in the middle of winter. Now, I'm freezing to death. What else could go wrong?_ Then, as if nature was listening, something else went wrong. The snowfall all of a sudden increased dramatically. Snow began to fall an a very rapid pace and the winds picked up very quick. _A blizzard. That's what else could go wrong…_

The temperature dropped quickly and soon Weiss couldn't see twenty feet in front of her. She sat up, still under the tree and tried to figure out what to do. She no longer knew where the road was leading away from the house and because of the heavy snowfall, she couldn't see the moon to determine which way to go. Basically, she was lost and disoriented in the middle of a blizzard. A death sentence. If she stayed where she was, she would most likely freeze to death. However, if she tried to walk around and try to find her way out of the woods, she could become turned around and walk right back to the house. However, there was a slight chance she could find somewhere better to stay the night. Maybe she might even find the road leading away from the house. Weiss determined this was the only option if she wanted to live.

So, she put on as many of the extra clothes she could manage in order to stay as warm as possible and packed up the rest. Her footprints from earlier had been completely covered up so it was all a guess. The snow crunched under her heals as she walked through the shin high snow and made her way in which direction she thought was the right way, leaving behind a small plie of burnt clothing, half buried under the snow. However, it wasn't long before her little campsite was busy with activity again.

"Mortla, sir, come look at this.!" A man called out, his voice barely heard over the winds

"What is it, Anderson?" Mortla replied as he walked towards Anderson.

"It's a campsite. And there are footprints leading this way!" Anderson pointed out, pointing towards the set of small footprints leading deeper into the woods.

"Clever work!" Mortla replied, grabbing his radio. "Attention all search party members. We have located a campsite sued by Weiss. I am sending the location of the campsite and the direction of some footprints we also found leading away from the campsite on your scrolls." Mortla opened up his scroll and sent everyone a map of the woods with a circle around the campsite and an arrow pointing in the direction of the footprints. "It looks like she is headed in the direction of the main road. We can't let her get there. Everyone got it? Let's move!"

Weiss crept as silently as she could through the snow, unaware of the large search party no far behind her. She has no clue in which direction she was walking. All she was hoping for was something, anything that could help her. She didn't know what that could be, but she was just hoping for something.

Meanwhile, the search party was closely following her every move, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. They all had their weapons drawn and aimed in the direction they were walking. Then, Mortla's voice came over the radio. "Remember, we aren't going for kill shots. Mr. Schnee wants her alive so aim for anything below the waist. Legs, ankles, feet, whatever you can manage. Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT aim for her head or vitals!" Mortla's voice was replaced by static then quickly quiet.

"Man, that's bullshit." One of the guards said.

"What's up?" The man next to him asked.

"We finally get the chance to end this pretentious girl's life, but we can't because Jacques wants here alive. Fuck Jacques! If I see that little brat, you are damn sure I'm going for the head." The first man responded.

"Dude, I wouldn't. If you kill her and Mortla or Jacques finds out, you're fucked."

"If I kill her, I don't care if I die. At least I got to rid the world of one less piece of shit!"

"Whatever man, your funeral." The second man said, backing away from the first man.

Weiss still crept on, her aura trying to both heal her wounds and keep her warm, but slowly failing at both. She knew if that she didn't find something warm or something to get her out of the snow, she would surely freeze to death. Weiss tried not to think about it as she kept moving, praying she would find something. Then, Weiss stopped in her tracks, dumbfounded by what her saw.

 _The road!_ She thought to herself. By pure luck, she had found the road. It too was covered in snow, but not nearly as thick and deep as it was in the dense forest. She just stood there for a second before heading towards the road. However, unbeknownst to her, that quick pause had allowed the search party to gain ground on her. They were now closer than ever and some of them could now see her in the distance.

"Dude, what's that?" One of the men asked his buddy.

"It looks like, a person!" The other man responded.

"Holy shit! That must be her! What other person is going to be out her. We gotta tell Mortla!" The first man responded, reaching for his radio.

"Or, we could take her out, right here, right now." The second man said, steadying his rifle, taking aim at the figure's head.

"Dude, don't! Mortla will rip you to shreds if you kill her, literally!"

"Fuck Mortla! Fuck him man! I finally have an excuse to kill that bitch and no one is going to stop me!"

"No!" The first man yelled, but it was too late.

Time slowed as the man squeezed the trigger on his rifle, causing the firing pin inside the rifle to strike the back end of the bullet, causing a small explosion which sent the bullet flying down the inside of the barrel of the rifle, spinning to match the direction of the spiral grooves inside the barrel. As the bullet casing was ejected, the bullet launched from the end of barrel, going faster than the speed of sound. The sound the bullet made as it left the rifle could be heard over a mile away, even in this snowfall. The bullet spun clockwise through the air as it neared its target, the back of Weiss head. However, since the air was colder, making it denser, the bullet had more air resistance, making it travel as a lower speed than usual. It was because of this reason alone that the bullet fell a couple of inches, missing it's intended target by just 3 inches lower. Instead of the bullet breaching the back of Weiss skull, killing her instantly, the bullet instead traveled through her hair which was down to her shoulders. The bullet then just grazed her shoulder before hitting the snow, causing the snow in fly up in all directions.

The entire search party and Weiss turned their heads to the origin of the sound. The man was still squeezing the trigger but his face had changed from a look of determination to fear as he realized he had missed. He turned his head to face his comrades who looked at him with mixed emotions of anger and surprise. He then turned back towards Weiss, who was now facing him. He couldn't see them that clearly but Weiss' eyes showed nothing but fear. His face turned back to a look of determination as he realized his grasp on the trigger, switched the rifle to full auto mode, and readied his shot again. Most of the other men in the search party did the same thing, aiming their rifles towards the figure ahead of them. Weiss turned back to face the road, her face showing determination and fear. Time returned to normal as the sound of gunfire pierced the air.

Weiss took off as she could as a hail of gunfire whizzed past her. Bullet were landing in front, behind, and to the side of her. Some were missing by inches, some she could feel the breeze from as they shot past her face. All the men were firing at her. Some holding down the trigger and spraying in full auto while others took their time with each shot. Most of them aimed for the legs in hopes of slowing her down while other tried their luck at aiming for something that wouldn't kill her, but stop her dead in her tracks.

Weiss ran, while still carrying the small duffel bag of clothes. She ran towards the road and then eventually reached the low slope that lead to the road. It provided cover but along briefly as both she and the search party were moving. It also didn't stop the hail of gunfire since snow was flying in all directions at the top of the slope, even after she slid down. She was now on the road, there was snow covering the road, but it was thin, making it way easier to ran away. She ran down the road as a few of the men stopped at the slope to take a knee and take more accurate shots. Weiss took a peek over her shoulder to see how far away the men were and right then, a bullet came within 3 cm on her nose. So close, she could feel the air vibrate as it passed. She quickly snapped her back to facing forward, still running.

While Weiss wasn't getting hit, the same couldn't be said for her bag. It was getting pelted with bullets. It had basically turned into a shield, with her clothes acting as the stoppers for the bullets. She knew that all her clothes were getting tattered and were no longer usable, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get away. But as she ran, her clothes stopping the bullets, she forgot about one thing: the dust in her bag. And there was one vial of dust in particular that she should really be worrying about. The fire dust. The same dust that allowed her to escape the grasps on the knight was now in danger of being hit and exploding. What was even more frightening being that during the chase, it had fallen out of its holder and was jolted around until it was right up against the side of the bag facing away from Weiss and towards the men.

So far, she was getting lucky with none of the bullets hitting the dust, but her luck was soon to run out.

One of the men near the front of the pack, firing wildly at Weiss, stopped to think for a moment. _Man, fuck this,_ he thought _the farther she goes, the farther we get from the heat. I'm going to end this chase right here, right now!_ The man took off at full sprint, catching back up to the men at the front and even passing them. Once he got a few good paces ahead of them, he stopped again and took aim.

Time slowed once more as the man pulled the trigger to his rifle. The bullet left the end of the barrel traveling faster than the blink of an eye and had a temperature of about 300 degrees. As it flew through the air, it cooled down, the frigid air helping. But even this wasn't enough to stop what happened next. As the bullet reached bag, it was still about 175 degrees. It pierced the thin fabric of the bag and immediately made contact with glass vial of fire dust. The glass shattered, sending the dust flying out in any direction it could in the confined bag. The heat of the bullet ignited some of the dust, creating a small fire, which in turn ignited more of the dust. The small fire quickly turned into a bigger fire the engulfed the bag and soon after that, it turned into a large fire ball, engulfing part of Weiss' back and sending her flying forward. Time returned to normal as Weiss flew through the air, propelled by the fire ball.

The men chasing her stopped in their tracks and just watched as this fire ball light up the night sky. It rose towards the tops of the tree before finally dissipating into embers of burnt clothes. As night returned to forest, the men just stood there, dumbfounded by what just happened. The man who shot in fatal bullet just stood there, befuddled by the whole thing. He had meant to strike Weiss shoulder in an attempt to tear through the muscle, causing her to slow or even stop. But now, as all eyes fell back down to the ground, the all saw the body of Weiss Schnee, lying face first in the snow, small patches of fire surrounding her.

Mortla, who was in the middle of pack, ran up to the front. He had seen what everyone else had saw and was making sure that Weiss wasn't dead. But as he approached the front, he saw Weiss, face first in the snow and he knew she was dead. He turned to look at the man who fired the shot. His gun was still pointed at the body but he turned his head to meet Mortla's eyes.

"Mortla…I…I didn't mean to…" The man stuttered out, but it was too late for an apology.

BANG!

A single shot rang out for Mortla's pistol. The man dropped his weapon and slumped to the ground, blood now oozing from a single bullet hole right in between his eyes. Mortla lowered his weapon and turned to the remaining men.

"I'll inform Mr. Schnee. If I were you, I would stay away from him for the next couple of days, or weeks. Move out!" And with that, the man and Mortla, turned back towards the house.

Empty handed and head hanging low.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Before you review, let me explain.**

 **This is by far the longest I've even spent on a chapter and there are a few reasons behind this. 1. I tried to make Weiss' escape exciting, but not unrealistic. I didn't want her to fall off a cliff and live, somehow. But I also didn't her to just walk out unseen. This posed a number of problems with how the story should play out and I experimented with a bunch of different scenarios. 2. Halfway through writing this, I lost all motivation to write. So, this document sat unedited for about a month 3. I now have a part time job AND I'm taking Summer classes at my community college so time is very limited.**

 **But with all of that being said, I still hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to get SLS out in a reasonable amount of time since I pretty much have that whole chapter planned out. And if you haven't figured out the pattern yet, I always update my stories in a cycle so don't expect another chapter of this story until I update SLS and QLS.**

 **Finished Writing: June 14, 2017**

 **Words: 3.5k**


	5. Chapter 5: The Town

Weiss slowly opened her eyes. Everything was dark. She couldn't tell where she was, or how she got there. She tried moving but found her body very stiff. And very cold. In fact, everything was cold. The ground, the air, everything was nipping cold. Weiss tried moving again and, although she found it difficult, she managed to stand up.

Once standing, she looked around. She still couldn't see anything. She couldn't tell if she was outside or inside as she couldn't see any walls or a ceiling.

"Hello?" Weiss called out. Nothing. No response. Her voice just floated with the wind.

So, with all the strength she could muster, she began to walk ever so slowly. She didn't know what direction she was headed, but she really didn't care. As she walked, she heels clicked and clacked against a marble floor.

 _So, I'm inside at least. Probably my own house_ Weiss thought. She continued in what she assumed was the correct direction for a few more feet. Or at least, she thought it was a few more feet. Because Weiss couldn't see the walls or any type of structure, she was unsure of how far she'd gone or how long she'd been walking.

Soon, the darkness in the air began to recede and Weiss could start making out further and further distances. Ten feet, then twenty, then thirty until a structure came into view on her left. A pillar. And then another, and another. Lined up in equal spaces from each other, seeming to go on forever. Weiss could only see the front part of the pillar though and didn't know what was behind them. However, as the darkness slowly cleared, she saw that these pillars were up against a wall, cut in half. They were more decorative then practical. Then she looked to her right and saw the same thing, half pillars up against walls. Weiss then realized where she was.

 _It's…the…training hall. No, I can't be back here!_ Weiss started to walk backward upon realizing this is where her father just tried to kill her. However, she stumbled backwards and fell over upon hitting a soft, yet hard object on the floor.

As she lay on the ground, she tried to figure out what happened, considering there was nothing there a second ago. _I just came from there, but I didn't see anything. Did I step over something or was it too dark to see?_ Weiss questioned herself. She then proceeded to check what she tripped over and was met with pure horror.

There, on the ground directly in front of her, was the body of Klein. His knees were blown out and bloodied and there was a large bullet hole right in between his eyes. His eyes were open and were staring directly into Weiss' as she stared back in horror. Weiss didn't want to look but at the same time couldn't look away.

Then, a sudden earth rattling thud snapped her gaze up from Klein's body. Now standing in front of both her and Klein's body was a 50-foot-tall Armored Knight brandishing a smaller but still huge long sword. Weiss instant recognized it as the Knight that almost killed her in battle.

Weiss stands up and grabs her Myrtenaster, preparing for a fight. However, when she brings her weapon up, it quickly turns to dust, leaving only the handle, which Weiss is still gripping. Weiss starts to take a couple steps back, realizing she has no weapon to fight with. But as she steps back, she once and trips and falls backwards over something.

Weiss looks up and once again she is faced with Klein's dead body, staring back at her. _No, that's impossible_ Weiss thought. _He was just in front of me. How did he get behind me again?_

A loud, deep, male voice laughing made Weiss snap back to reality. It was coming from the bleachers behind the knight. However, since she was laying down, Weiss couldn't see who it was, so she tried to stand up.

"Stay down, little girl!" The voice said with a booming voice and Weiss was forced back to the ground by a seemingly unseen force. Weiss tried to stand up, but it was like something was holding her down.

"You know, when I first saw you fight, I saw promise. Determination, a will to fight." The voice said.

Weiss could tell it was moving a bit, but she couldn't tell where to. "But now, all I see is a failure!" The voice moved out from behind the knight and revealed himself to be Jacques.

"But father, why? Why do thi…." Weiss began, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

"Shut up!" Jacques cut her off. "You are nothing but a failure. And I don't talk or raise failures. Knight?" Jacques turned his attention to the knight who, in response, turned his head towards him. "Kill her. And make sure she actually dies this time." Jacques said before walking away.

The knight simply nodded before turning its attention back towards Weiss, who was still on the floor crying. The knight raised its long sword in the air, straight above his head, as if he was going to stick a flag in the ground. Weiss tried frantically to move around, but it was to no avail. Whatever force was holding her down wasn't going to let go anytime soon.

The knight then swung downwards towards Weiss with all his might. All Weiss could do was scream as the large sword got closer and closer to her. The knight was aiming towards Weiss stomach as Weiss franticly to move left or right to avoid the strike, but it was pointless. The sword kept coming. Faster and faster. Closer and closer. Weiss shut her eyes since she didn't want to see her own death. She felt the tip of the sword enter and chest and then…

Weiss' eyes shot open. She was now laying on her stomach. _Where am I?_ she thought? _Is this heaven? Or hell?_ Weiss realized she was still freezing cold. She tried moving her arms, only to discover that there was something covering them. A fine powder substance. In fact, it was covering her whole body. Weiss tried moving her whole body but due to her being so cold, she was stiff, her muscles not wanted to respond to the action her brain was telling them.

As she tried to move around a bit more, she realized she could see her own breath and that's when it hit her. "I'm in the snow!" she said to herself as she slowly started to remember how she got her. She remembered the attempt to take her life by her father, she remembered escaping into to woods, only to realize she was being followed. She remembered running down the road a bit and then, nothing. The next thing she remembered was waking up here. _How did I end up face down in the snow?_ Weiss thought to herself.

As Weiss' body slowly warmed up, she tried moving her legs. Slowly but surely, the muscles in her legs began to respond and that's when she felt it. A painful, burning sensation in her lower left leg. Weiss tried to look and see what was causing it, but most of her body, including her neck was still stiff and slow to respond. Weiss tried to move her leg into a position she could see it but the more she moved it, the more it hurt.

Weiss decided that the best way to figure out what was hurting so bad was to sit up and look at the wound. So, using all her available strength, she brought her arms to her sides and tried pushing herself up. That's when she felt another burning spot in her lower back. This one hurt more and seemed to be bigger.

Eventually, Weiss was able to push herself up into a seated position and that's when she saw it. All around where she lay were bits and piece of torn, burnt, and destroyed clothing and other items. As Weiss looked around in confusion, her leg began to hurt again. She looked down at it and saw that it was burned pretty bad.

 _How did all of this happen?!_ Weiss thought to herself as she tried to remember what caused all of this. _I remember, my father tried to kill me, so I ran. Then, some of my father's men chased me down and then…_ Weiss tried to remember anything past that but failed. Weiss looked around for clues to figure out how she got here.

 _Why is everything on fire?_ She thought to herself. _And why are there bits of my clothes?_ She looked down at herself. "Yep, I'm still wearing mine." She said quietly to herself. "So why would I have clothes…the bag!" Weiss realized that her bag full of clothing was nowhere to be seen. That's when it hit her. _The dust! It must have ignited somehow!_ Weiss thought to herself as she looked around once again, the pieces falling into place. _The dust must have exploded in my bag, knocking me out but not killing me._ Weiss concluded. _And then the men must have thought I died or else I wouldn't be here. Okay so, what was in the bag?_

Weiss began to list all the things that were in the bag. _Clothes, food, some money, dust for my weapon._

"Wait," Weiss said to herself, "where's Myrtenaster?!" Weiss began to panic, realizing her trusted weapon was no longer at her side. She was only skilled in using her rapier. She had no idea how to fight any other way so without her weapon, she was practically defenseless. Weiss frantically looked around, trying to see if she could find it. Then, about 30 yards away, she spotted the handle and revolver sticking out of the snow. Relieved in seeing it, she tried to stand up to go retrieve it, only to be brought back down to the snow by her leg, which still hurt extremely badly from the large burn. Laying back down in the snow, Weiss concluded she had two options. The first one being stay where she was, and maybe have someone or something come up and attack her and, without her weapon, being unable to fight back. The second was to tough out the burning pain and retrieve her weapon. It might hurt for a while but at least she would have some protection.

Weiss decided to go with the second option and using all the strength she could muster, stood up ands began to very slowly limp to her weapon. After a while, she finally reached the weapon and picked it up. However, when she picked it up and looked at it, she was struck with horror.

As she picked up the handle and revolver, the blade slowly came into view. One inch, two inches, nothing. The force of the explosion had blown most of the blade off. Weiss frantically looked around for it. Then about 20 feet farther away, she saw the other part of the blade. Slowly, she hobbled over to and to somewhat of a relief, the rest of the blade was lying there. It was bent and twisted but it was there. Weiss then looked at what she had in her hands.

In her right hand was the handle and revolver as well as about 2 inches of blade before ending in a sharp tip. In her left was the other foot and a half of blade, twisted and bent. Weiss was no weapons expert, but she knew that her weapon was in dire need of repairs. Weiss tried to think of places to get her weapon fixed but the only two places were her home and the blacksmith in the nearby town. And with her home 100% out of the equation, her only choice was the nearby town. Weiss turned to look for the town as it could be easily spotted from the road leading up to her home. She soon spotted it in the distance.

 _That's a pretty far walk_ Weiss thought to herself but quickly decided it was the only option. She scavenged anything she could from the small crater that used to be her duffle bag which ended up only being a few granola bars that were slightly burnt and headed off in the direction of the town.

By now it was mid-day. Weiss had decided to stick to the forest since she knew there were a few cameras on the road up to her house. The car ride from her house to the town was usually about 10 – 15 minutes but in her state and the fact that she was walking, it took her closer to 5 hours to get to the outskirts of the town.

The town in question, Izu, was a relatively small town. It held a population of about 12,000, most of them being older people. The only two main attractions in were Schnee mansion and major train stop in town. The train stop had been the source of much of the towns income since it opened after the Great War. This was the reason the Schnee's chose this spot to build their estate some fifty odd years ago and since then, it has supplied the town with some tourist income from those seeking to see the large estate for themselves. However, a large number of the population, especially the older folks, were not very fond of the Schnee's. Every time Weiss went into town with her father of sister when Winter was still around, the older folks always stared that her and her family, giving them ugly looks and evil eyes. Weiss tried asking her father why everyone hated them, but he usually brushed off the question.

Now, as Weiss walked through town, people were once again staring, but for an entirely different reason this time. Here was Weiss Schnee, Daughter of the owner of Schnee Dust company, hobbling down main street with large burn marks and gashes all over her body. Her clothes were torn and tattered and it looked like she had been through hell. Weiss tried to ignore all the glares, but it was difficult. Some people were covering their mouths in horror, others taking pictures, and a few even trying to call out to her. Weiss ignored them the best she could and slowly made it down to the Blacksmith.

An old man was resting in a chair near the front door on the porch when Weiss walked up. He seemed to be sleeping so Weiss tried to get his attention.

"Ex-Excuse me? Sir?" Weiss called out to him.

The old man slowly raised his head to see who was calling him. As he looked up, he was slightly taken aback by who was standing in front of him.

"Can you, fix this?" Weiss asked, holding out the two pieces of her once mighty weapon.

The old man looked at her, then the weapon. Then he looked down the street. There were still a few people taking pictures and videos and a few began making phone calls. He looked back to Weiss, who looked like she was trying to hold back tears.

"All right. Come inside and I'll she what I can do." The old man said with a gravelly voice as he stood up. Weiss slowly made her way up the few steps leading up to the porch of the small building. The old man was holding the door open for her and she quickly hobbled in. The old man the closed the door behind her before locking it. Weiss didn't notice this as she was busy looking at all the tools and weapons on the walls.

"All right kid," The old man said. Weiss turned to look at him. H was standing in front of the door, as if he was blocking it. "I know who you are. And I also know that Jacques would never let his kids walk all the way down here by themselves, especially looking like they just got back from the Great War. So, I'll make you a deal. You tell me exactly what happened to you and your weapon and I'll do what I can to fix the weapon and see what I can do about those injuries because the way you're walking, you got maybe a few more day before your aura gives out and you die. No bullshit, just the truth. And I've been on this planet long enough to know when someone is bullshitting. Deal?"

Weiss took a second to respond. "I don't think I can do that." Weiss finally said.

"And why's that?" The old man responded, a bit of confusion on his face.

"Because you won't believe me." Weiss said, looking down to hide tears.

"Listen kid. Just tell me everything all I'll decided whether to believe it or not." The old man.

Weiss swiped the tears from her eyes before telling him everything. She told the tale of how her father tried to kill her, but she escaped into the woods but then Mortla and his men found her, and she ran but a stray bullet ignited the fire dust in her backpack, nearly killing her and making it look like she had died to the explosion and now she was trying to get away from her father but needed her weapon repaired first.

By the end, Weiss was in tears again. The old man was still standing in the same spot. It took him a minute to respond.

"I knew Jacques was cold-blooded, but to try and kill his own daughter, that's just evil." He said finally.

"That's quite a story you got there, kid. And I'll be honest, it hard to believe. But seeing the way you look and the way you're acting, I can tell you ain't bullshitting."

Weiss looked up at him. "So, you'll help me?" She said, her voice cracking slightly.

"Like I said, I'll she what I can do. First off, your weapon." He said. He held out his hand for the weapon. Weiss slowly handed both pieces over. He took them and looked at both for a minute before handing a blade part back to her. Weiss looked back in confusion.

"I'm going to assume you want me to put that long blade part back with the rest of it. Correct?" He asked. Weiss nodded her head. "Well, that just isn't possible. This weapon was crafted from one single piece of metal and to try and weld that piece back on would destroy the balance and weapon and make it almost impossible to use. What I can do it reconfigure this part into a short-bladed dagger and keep the revolver mechanism the same, so you'll have a revolver dagger."

"But, I'm only skilled with the rapier, I don't know how to use anything else." Weiss said, somewhat panicked.

"Just pretend your rapier is 2 feet shorter. It'll take some time to readjust but not nearly as long as it would if you were starting from scratch."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Weiss instantly began to panic.

"What if that's Mortla and he somehow found me, and he's coming to kill me, and…" Weiss began to ramble.

"Hey!" The old man snapped, shutting Weiss up. "Go hide in that room. And don't come out until I say so." He pointed to a room with a small bed in the corner. Weiss nodded and hobbled over into the room before shutting the door.

The old man turned back towards the front door. The knocking was a bit louder and more urgent. The old man walked over to the door but before unlocking it, he grabbed a small sword by the door he kept for protection. Once he had it hidden at his side, he unlocked the door and opened it, expecting a gun or knife in his face. Instead, he was face to face with a worried old middle-aged woman.

"Ahh, Ms. C." He said, slowly lowering the weapon. Ms. C owned the clothing store next door.

"Oh, Smith, I saw Weiss enter your store. Where is she?" Ms. C asked frantically.

"She's here in my room, resting. She was very weak." He said with a friendly smile.

"Oh my, what happened?" She asked.

"Freak training accident up near the estate. Some of the fire dust she had on her exploded. She was knocked out and when she came to, she got confused and ended up here." He said, completely bullshitting the entire story.

"My Oum. I hope she's okay. Can I come see her?" Ms. C asked.

"Not at the moment. She's very weak like I said and needs her rest." He said.

"Okay. I guess so. Well, I just got off the phone with Mr. Schnee. He seemed very pleased to know she was okay. He said he'll be here as soon as he can." She said, cheerfully.

"Oh, is that so? Well, I'll let her know." He said with a fake smile.

"Please. I think she'll be happy to go home. Well, I'll be at my store if something comes up." Ms. C said as she turned and walked away.

"Ms. C?" Smith asked. She turned to look back at him. "Do you think you could get some warm clothes for her? It cold out today and her clothes are a bit, revealing." He said, cautiously.

"Oh, well over course. I don't mind. I'll send a couple of pairs of pants and jackets over." She responded.

"Thank you." He said before closing the door again and locking it. "All right kid, it's clear." He said. Weiss opened the door. "Did you hear what she said?" Weiss nodded reluctantly. "All right. We got 1 hour to change your appearance and identity and get you out of here."

"Change my appearance and identity? Why? What for?" Weiss asked.

"Because as long as your name is Weiss Schnee and you look like that Mortla and his men will hunt you down. However, if Weiss is somehow killed today, Mortla will have no reason to keep looking."

Weiss was beginning to catch on. "Is that why you asked for clothes?" She asked.

"Yes. And as for your appearance, those burn marks and scars will do great, especially that one over your left eye. But you are going to need a haircut and probably a new hair color. I can help you with the haircut part but the hair color, you're going to have to get that from somewhere else." He said.

There was a knock at the door again. Instead of answering it, Smith just called out.

"Is that you Ms. C?"

"Yes." She replied. "I got some clothes I think would fit."

"Great, just leave them on the step. I get them after I finish healing these wounds." He yelled back.

"All right. Just sent back the ones that don't fit." She said. There was a soft thud and then the sound of footsteps leaving the porch and going down the steps. Smith then unlocked the door, grabbed the clothes and handed them to Weiss.

"Here, go try those on in that room while I work on this weapon of yours." Smith said.

Weiss went into the small room and closed the door. She laid out the clothes in front of her. Mainly sweaters and pants with a few long sleeve shirts thrown in. Weiss looked at what was in front of her. As Weiss looked at the outfits she didn't just see outfits. She also saw her future in front of her. Which outfit would make the easiest escape and let her escape her father. Which outfit would let her choose her own path and make her own decisions? Which outfit would lead to a new life? Or which outfit would lead to her early death.

For the second time in two days, Mortla was called into Jacques office. He had thrown quite the temper tantrum yesterday when he found out Weiss had been killed by a stray bullet and since there was no authentic way to figure out with member of Mortla's team was responsible, he shifted his anger towards Mortla. Now, he was being called back into his office for reasons he didn't know yet. Maybe this was his demotion, firing, or worse. He looked down at his left hand, still bandaged up from when Jacques stabbed him for letting Weiss escape and while he hadn't gotten physically injured from yesterday's talk, he was starting to worry, that would change now.

Mortla approached the door. He stopped for a second.

 _Maybe I should just leave. What if I don't come out of this room?_ He pondered the thought. _No. That will only make things worse._ He reassured himself the best he could before proceeding to knock.

"Come in." said the voice on the other side of the door. Mortla opened it with confidence but on the inside, he was nervous. Jacques was sitting at his desk, on the phone with someone. He didn't look angry or upset. He looked calm. This made Mortla even more nervous as to who he was talking to.

"Can I put you on hold for just a second?" Jacques asked the people on the other end of the line before placing the scroll face down on his desk. "Mason, just the person I wanted to see. Come, sit." Jacques gestured to the open chair on the other side of his desk. Mortal cautiously walked over and sat down.

"Mason, what did you tell me last night?" Jacques asked.

"I told you, that Weiss was killed in the dust explosion. I've been trying to find…" Mortla said.

Jacques cut him off. "Repeat that first part again."

"Weiss was killed in a dust explosion." Mortla said again.

Jacques nodded before turning his scroll back over. He tapped on the screen a few times. "Alright Ms. C, you are now on speaker phone. I'm here with my security advisor, Mr. Mortla. Now, can you tell him what you just saw?" Jacques said.

"Well, I was in outside my shop cleaning the windows when I saw Weiss walking down main street. Her clothes were torn and burnt. I could see large burns and cuts all over her body. She looked scared and frightened."

Mason's eyes widen in surprise as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked to Jacques who had a look of anger and disappointment in his eyes.

"Now Ms. C, can do you know where she is right now?" Jacques asked.

"Well, like I said she's at the blacksmith. I believe she's getting her weapon fixed. Oh, I worry about her being here all alone. She looks so young." Ms. C said, worry in her voice.

"Don't worry, I'll be there as soon as possible. You have a good day." Jacques said before hanging up the phone.

"I'll go get her and bring her to you." Mortla jumped up and said with eager and confidence.

"Oh, you will. But to make sure this doesn't cause a scene and to make sure you don't fuck up for a third time, I'm coming along." Jacques said with a firm voice. He reached down and grabbed the palm of his left hand and squeezed it like a firm handshake.

Mortla inhaled sharply and pain shot through his hand. "We don't want to fuck up, now do we?" Jacques said calmly but with spite before driving his thumb into the still fresh hole in his hand, causing Mason to drop to his knees in pain. "Do we?" Jacques asked again, looked down at Mason.

Mason looked up at his, a look of determination while trying to block out the pain was in his eyes. "No, sir." He said firmly.

"Good." Jacques said before letting down of Mason's hand, letting it fall to the floor. Mason grabbed it as it began to bleed again.

"Get only your most trusted men and met me in the company car. Oh, and don't get too much blood on the carpet, I just got it cleaned from yesterday." Jacques said before closing the door.

 **Author's Note**

 **Alright so, a couple things.**

 **One, this story was hard to write so this chapter. The first bit with Weiss in the snow proved to be much more of a writing challenge than I first thought. It sat unfinished for probably 3 or 4 months before I finally figured out what to do without making it hard on me as a writer and you are a reader. The main issue was really that writing for one person is boring as hell when they are alone for a while.**

 **Two, the original idea of this story has been changed. A lot. Don't worry, I haven't changed Weiss' arc that much but her story is different. The original plan for this was to have the entire story arc take place within a year or so and have Weiss get revenge at like 13. Looking back, not the best idea and very implausible. The new idea I feel is better, more fitting and most importantly, more plausible.**

 **So anyways, Follow, Favorite, and Review.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Final Escape

Weiss emerged from the locked room. Her new outfit consisted of a long sleeve black shirt covered up by an oversized maroon sweater that faded into black at the bottom. The sweater itself extended down past her waist and ended halfway towards her knees. She had on some basic Demin jeans that had a few small holes in them, for reason Weiss just didn't understand considering it was below freezing outside. But she didn't have a choice as all the jeans Ms. C had provided had holes in them. The one thing Ms. C hadn't provided was some new boots as Weiss' were torn and also had a few small holes in them.

As Weiss looked around the shop, she realized the blacksmith was no were to be seen. Her mind immediately jumped to idea that Mortla had already arrived and was about to abduct her and take her back to her father. She frantically looked around the room to try and see if she could spot Mortla or maybe even her father. Her heart rate spiked, and her movements became erratic as she tried to predict where she was gonna get jumped from. Suddenly, there was a noise behind her, coming from one of the other room at the back of the shop. Without hesitation, Weiss whipped out her revolver and fired a single shot. It was only after pulling the trigger that she realized she had shot at the blacksmith, who was carrying a large metal drum. Luckily, due to her shaky nature, her aim was off, and the dust bullet whizzed past his face and impacted the wall behind him.

"Oh, fuck!" The blacksmith exclaimed, who jumped at the shot but barely flinched.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't see you when I left the room and thought my father was here and when I heard the noise I…" Weiss explained apologetically.

"It's alright." The blacksmith said, sighing an placing the metal drum on the floor on the shop next to four move metal drums that Weiss had failed to notice before. After setting down the drum, he looked back towards Weiss, specifically her weapon.

"Can I see that? I think I can do something with it really quick." He asked. Weiss handed over her weapon and the blacksmith looked it over. After a few seconds, he ripped off the decorative parts in and around the handle.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked, a bit panicked.

"Destroying evidence. If you manage to escape, someone might recognize the designs on the handle or at least figure it belongs to someone rich and could rat you out." Weiss relaxed a bit, feeling safer than she had in about 2 days. After a moment, she spoke up.

"What's your name?" She asked the blacksmith.

"Barlow." He replied, never glancing up. "Here. How do this feel?" He handed the weapon back to Weiss. She immediately noticed it was lighter and could be maneuvered a bit faster than before. "Could you maybe make this edged a bit less jagged?" Weiss asked.

"Don't have time. Your father could be here any minute. Speaking of that, let down your hair." Barlow said.

"Why?" Weiss asked.

"Cause we need to cut it. It doesn't matter how different your outfit is if your appearance is still the same. By just cutting your hair, people won't recognize you as easily." Barlow said, going behind the counter and retrieving a large pair of scissors.

"Alright." Weiss replied, reluctant as she loved her long hair. However, while she did believe Barlow's statement, she at first didn't trust his hair cutting skills. However, her qualms were quickly dissolved as he seemed to expertly cut her long hair. "You seem pretty good at this." Weiss stated. "Do you have a daughter?"

"Used to." Barlow said, quietly.

"What happened?" Weiss asked, naively ignoring the pain in his voice.

"It's a long story, and we don't have the time. Done." He said, putting the scissors down on a desk and grabbing a small mirror. Weiss glanced at her new hair style. Her once long hair now barely reached her shoulder.

"I understand you may not like it, but it's what needs to be done." Barlow said after a brief moment of silence.

"It's fine." Weiss replied, running her hands through her hair.

"Okay. There's just one more thing, follow me." Barlow said, beckoning Weiss to follow him. He led Weiss into another small room, no bigger than a small bedroom. It had the appearance of a supply closest with various tools and other pieces of metal and woods sprung around the room and it had a window and what appeared to be a cellar door under the window.

"See that house of that way?" Barlow said, pointing to a small shack about 200 meters behind the building and near the edge of the woods. "That's my home. I built a small tunnel when I was younger from here to there so as to not trudge through the snow during the winter. This hatch leads to that tunnel. This is your escape. This is how you will leave town without being noticed cause no one else knows about this. There's a bright light on the front porch. When you reach my house, I want you to turn on that light, so I know you got there safely." He explained.

"What about you? What are you going to do?" Weiss asked.

"You know those barrels out in the front of my store?" He asked. Weiss nodded. "They're filled with fire dust, enough to level three buildings and turn everything in this building to dust." Barlow explained. Weiss however, still seemed confused. "I'm going to fake your death."

"But you'll die in the explosion." Weiss said, worried about her new friend.

"That's the point. The people will think I kidnapped you and then killed you and myself. They'll call me a terrorist or whatever, I don't care. But with your clothes and hair in here, they'll think you died in the explosion and you can live a new life."

"But, where will I go?" Weiss questioned.

"The train. It travels all around Atlas. You can just use it to get away or found your new life on it. However, I can't guarantee the people that already live on the train will be nice to you. You're going to have to toughen up a lot, be more prepared to kill if need be." Barlow checked his watch. "The train leaves in about thirty minutes so if you hurry, you can hop on. Just follow the path leading from my house into the woods, it leads straight there."

Just then, Weiss noticed a line of cars and trucks headed down the road and turning on to the road they were on. "That's my father convoy." She cried out. Barlow glanced over at it. "That's a lot of vehicles for just a lost child." He stated a bit worried. "Go! Through the tunnel. I'll hold them off." Weiss quickly ran to the tunnel door, just her weapon in her hand. She opened it with little resistance and began quickly descending into the tunnel. However, right as she was about to disappear into the tunnel, she glanced back around at Barlow.

"Hey Barlow," Weiss said. He turned around to face the child. "Thank you. For everything."

"You can thank me by staying alive. Now go." Barlow said, grabbing what appeared to be an axe off the wall. Weiss grabbed the tunnel door and closed it as she descended into the tunnel. Once the door had closed, Barlow turned his attention towards the front door.

"This is payback time." He said quietly to himself, rechambering the axe-shotgun he held.

Outside, the line of seven vehicles pulled up outside the blacksmith.

"Are you sure we still need all these men?" Mortla asked Jacques, who sat next to him in one of the larger trucks.

"Why of course. If you claim Weiss is able to survive a dust explosion, than she must be pretty powerful and therefore, we need all the firepower we can acquire." Jacques replied. Mortla could taste the spite and sarcastic nature in his tone. Mortla sighed and hopped out of the vehicle. As he walked around to the other side of the truck, five of his men in full armor and head gear joined him.

"You." He said, pointing to one of the men. "Go up to the front door. You two," He said, point to the two on either side of the first guy, "back him up in case something happens. The rest of you stay back. This won't take long." The three men Mortla chose to walk up to the building all rolled their eyes, knowing this was all unnecessary. As the three men approached the door, Mortla turned back towards the truck motioning Jacques to roll down his window. He obliged, rolling to down halfway as Mortla hopped on the step on the side of the truck and grabbed a small handle on the outside.

"Won't take long now." Mortla said with a grin. This grin was almost immediately destroyed when the sound of a shotgun blast caused everyone nearby, including a small crowd that had gathered to duck for cover. The door to the blacksmiths had a shotgun blast hole through as the man who was tasked with going up to the door lay motionless on the front step, blood seeping from a large hole in his abdomen, the armor standing little resistance to the near point-blank shotgun blast. While on the men sent to back the first man up ran to retrieve his body, the other put a couple of his own AR rounds through the door and wall.

"Stay back!" Yelled Barlow from inside. "Or everyone within a 150 feet gets blown to dust!" This cause a panic amongst the small crowd, causing them to scatter.

"You were saying?" Jacques said to Mortla's back, who began to shout orders.

"You six! Go around back! You three, grab the shields! The rest of you, don't fire unless I give the command. We don't want to kill Weiss!"

Meanwhile, Weiss had heard the gun shot and hurried up her pace through the tunnel. She had found a small portable heater that Barlow probably used to stay warm. She held it in her right hand and her weapon in her left. As she moved through the tunnel she realized that her vision out of her left eye was blurry at best. She remembered Barlow had said something about there being a gash over her left eye and was now starting to worry that whatever caused it was messing with her vision. She pushed it to the back of her mind as she focused on the task ahead as she approached the other end of the tunnel. She was once again faced with another cellar-like door which once again, proved to be little trouble to open.

As she stepped out of the tunnel, she stepping into a small, three room house. The tunnel door seemed to open into a living room. Off to one side was a bedroom and the other, a bathroom. Weiss remembered what she was told about the light and quickly found a set of four light switches. Without hesitation, she turned them all on and one of them did turn on the outdoor light Barlow had mention. Unfortunately, the other three seemed to control every other light in the house. Weiss, not wanting Barlow to miss her message, turned off the lights one by one until she found the one that turned the outdoor light off. Once she did that, she turned it back on and turned the of the lights rest off.

Back at the shop, Barlow was hidden behind the counter, as one of the AR round ha struck him in the calf. Knowing his end was near, he decided not to bandage it. His decision proved to be foolish as he began to feel light headed and dizzy. He occasionally fired another round through the door to keep the men at bay and was always met with gun fire in return. Now, as he glanced out the back window waiting for the signal, he heard the sound of heavy riot shields being moved outside. He once again stood up, feeling weak this time, and fired his second to last shot. This time however, the pellets seemed to hit one of the shields, meaning they were just outside the door. Barlow slumped down behind the desk, knocking one of the barrels over, causing it's contents to spill onto the wooden floor.

Glancing back outside towards his home, he swore he saw the light on outside for a second, but when he blinked, it was off. However, after a second, the light came back on. Taking that as the signal, he pointed his shotgun towards the five barrels of fire dust. He heard the sound of his front door open, meaning the men were mere feet away from him. "You asked for it!" He yelled, hearing the sounds of men frantically trying to scatter before pulling the trigger and everything turning bright orange.

Outside, the impact of the shotgun blast hitting the riot shield cause a few of the men to recoil. "Focus up, men!" Mortla snapped at the men, holding the shield that was impacted. "We're gonna be fine. It's just one guy versus twenty." The men quickly regained their composer as Mortla slowly approached the door, his men following close behind. He reached the front door and slowly opened it, glancing inside. As he scanned the room, he noticed some red dust on the floor. He followed the spill as the amount of dust increased before his eyes fell upon a partially visible barrel full of fire dust. His eyes widened and fear in realization as he heard _You asked for it c_ ome from behind the desk.

"FIRE DUST!" He yelled as he bolted from the door, his men quickly following behind, but it was too late. Soon, a bright red and orange fire ball engulfed the building, killing any man still on the front porch and within 10 feet of the building. Mortla, who had somehow gotten out of the range of immediate death, was blown 40 feet down the road, his left arm being severed by a piece of shrapnel. Mortla landed on his right side and immediately clutched the remains of where his left arm used to be attached at the shoulder. While Jacques vehicle was flipped on it's side by the explosion, he remained mostly unharmed by the explosion. The buildings on either side of the blacksmiths with heavily damaged with just the foundation of the blacksmith remaining. Everything else was either completely disintegrated or turned into shrapnel that killed or injured Mortla's men and any nearby spectator.

The explosion rocked the house Weiss was in, causing some of the windows to shatter and sending a fire ball 200 feet into the air. Weiss, who had witnessed the entire thing, starred motionless at the area that used to have a shop.

After a moment, she realized she needed to get moving. As she was about to exit the house, she noticed a pair of boots that looked like they belonged to a young girl by the front door. Barlow had mentioned he used to have a daughter, so Weiss assumed they belonged to her. She looked down at her current boots, noticing all the holes and burn marks. Glancing back at the other pair of boots, Weiss noticed they were about the same size and decided to try them on. Quickly removing her old boots and putting the new ones on, they were a bit too big but could the tied tightly. These new boots were bright red with black and white laces. They didn't really match with her outfit, but they were better than her current pair, so Weiss just decided to go with it.

Leaving the house, she trotted through the snow down the makeshift path to the train yard. While there wasn't a walkway, there was a clear pathway through the dense woods that Weiss was following. After about 10 minutes of walking, the trees became scarcer and the woods opened up into a small train yard and platform. Weiss had heard her father talking about the train yard before, but this was her first time visiting it.

There were a few buildings, some larger than others. The larger ones appeared to be storage buildings while the small ones were offices. There were piles of crate and containers spread evenly throughout the yard with a couple heavy machines near the containers. The path branched off into multiple different paths, with what appeared to be the largest one leading up to the small train platform. Weiss quickly hurried up to the platform where a large man in an officer uniform stopped her.

"Ticket please." The man stated.

"Please, I need to get onto that train." Weiss pleaded.

"Do you have a ticket?" He asked.

"No but…" Weiss began.

"Then you're not allowed on the train." The officer stated, cutting Weiss off.

"Do you know who I am?" Wiess questioned loudly.

"I don't care if you're a Schnee. No ticket, no train." He said firmly. Weiss just stared at him for a moment. This was the first time someone had both denied knowing her and didn't give her what she wanted. Instead of anger which is what she was expecting to feel, Weiss felt powerless. She no longer held any power over these men. She was just a runaway.

Turning away from the platform, the though of being a nobody circled in her head. It was also the first time that she really questioned what she was going to do with her life. Was she going to go to Atlas Academy and stay with her sister? What she gonna go to the capital and ask the governor for help? Maybe the military would be of assistance? She just didn't know. As Weiss retreated back into the woods, the weight of what had just occurred over the last two days finally hit her with full force. She had gone from the daughter of an extremely wealthy business man to a runaway with no home. For the first time, she truly had no one to turn to, no one to help her. She felt weak, defenseless, powerless. She felt like she didn't belong anymore. _Maybe, I should have died to the Knight_ Weiss thought to herself, beginning to tear up.

She slumped down behind a tree, out of sight of any of the workers, and began to cry. Cry for those she lost, both those that helped and hated her. Cry for all the lives she had ruined, whether intentional or not. Cry for herself, alone in this new world she had just been thrown into. Whether time sped up or slowed down is anyone's guess, but soon, the sound of a train horn forced Weiss back into the real world. It sounded off three times, each about a second apart. By the third whistle, Weiss understood that whatever she was going to do with her life, started on that train.

Quickly, she stood up and glanced back towards the train yard. She saw the train ever so slowly begin to lurch forward. She knew that if she didn't act fast, she would miss it. So Weiss bolted from behind the tree. She used a small hole to get through the fence and weaved her way between the storage containers and heavy machinery to avoid being spotted by the workers. Soon, she reached the last line of containers before the tracks. The train was still moving slowly, but Weiss could tell it was going to speed up soon, so she looked for a way on to the train.

Unfortunately, Weiss noticed all the cars were enclosed cars with large metal doors. She had heard her father mention before how they were able to withstand hundreds of pounds of force before opening so Weiss knew that her little revolver stood no chance at blowing open the door. So, Weiss scanned the approaching cars, looking for an open aired one. However, as the line of cars continued, and the train slowly sped up, Weiss couldn't seem to find an open aired car. Weiss knew that with each passing car, her chance of leaving diminished. Finally, as Weiss was about to give up hope, she noticed the final five car were open aired car. However, by this time, the train was moving at about 10 mph. While still slow, it was beyond Weiss' running speed.

As the cars approached, Weiss noticed a couple workers inspecting the containers headed her way. Now Weiss had no choice but to climb aboard the moving train as the workers would surely notice her. So, as the first open aired car grew closer, Weiss bolted for it, trying to get along side of it. She heard the voices of the workers calling out but ignored them as the car came along side of her. She tried to grab onto the first one but failed and almost fell. The second once again proved to be too hard. Now she was down to the final three. She thought about using her semblance to create a temporary step but decided not to as it would give her identity away.

As the third car approached Weiss glanced over her shoulder. She was shocked to see the two workers were running up to her and were gaining. Weiss knew it was now or never. She turned back around to see the third car along side her with a small handle and ladder quickly approaching. Weiss grabbed the handle with all her might and was able to hang on as the train dragged her, her boats skidding through the small rocks and peddle that lay beneath the tracks. Using all her available strength, she pulled herself up and into the car. Once on the train, she looked back at the workers, who had both stopped and were now just staring at her, knowing there was nothing they could do.

Weiss sat back against one of the containers on the open aired car, out of breathe. For the first time in a while, she could relax. No one was chasing her, no one was out to kill her, no one was breathing down her neck. For the first time ever, she truly felt free. Using this new-found freedom, the first thing Weiss did was take a nap as all of her energy was drained trying to climb aboard the moving train. It would be her first real nap since she left her home all those hours ago.

Weiss had no way of telling how long she was asleep. Minutes, hours, she didn't know, all that she knew was the she was awoken by someone shaking her. At first, her mind still half sleep, figured it was one of her maids telling her it was time for training or class. But soon, the gear fired back to life as she remembered where she was and that there should be no one else on the train. Her eyes shot open and she went to grab her revolver but was shocked to find it wasn't on her hip anymore. As she glanced around, she realized she was no longer in an opened aired car, but rather, a fully enclosed on. The car seemed to be an old and dilapidated passenger car. There were a few benches and tables left but most of it was empty space. As Weiss glanced around the room, she locked eyes with the person who awoke her.

It was a man, looking to be in his mid to late 50's. He wore bagged and torn heavy winter clothing and had a very unkempt and shaggy beard that reached down to his chest. His clothes looked like that hadn't been washed in years and he smelled like a burning junkyard. He had on a creepy smile that completely threw Weiss off. As she looked at this man, she realized she was on an equally dirty mattress.

"Heyy, it's okay." The man said, in a creepily soothing voice.

"Who…who are you?" Weiss asked nervously.

"My name is Reginald. I take it you're new around here?" He asked, still smiling.

"Yeah…" Weiss answer, getting more and more worried as the seconds passed.

"Well let me show you around." He said, his smile growing to a grin as he began to remove his clothing. Weiss tried screaming, but Reginald was quick to put his hand over her mouth. "I'm gonna have to ask you to be quiet. If there's one thing that's a turn off for me, it's the chatty ones." Reginald said, placing his other hand on Weiss' left knee and pushing it away from the other. Weiss once again tried to scream, but the scream was muffled by the large hand.

Suddenly, the door between the enclosed car opened and three men who looked to be dressed a tad nicer made their way into the car.

"Are you kidding me, Reg?" One of men said.

"Fuck off, Clint. Can't you see I'm the middle of something?" Reginald said, tightening his grip on Weiss' mouth.

"Reg. Are. You. Kidding. Me. She looks eleven for fucks sake." Clint said, visibly angry.

"Yeah. And? Have you seen the other women that climb aboard are looser than a thrift store turtleneck? For once, I want someone who's tight." Reg said in a creepy voice, his hand still on Weiss' knee.

"She's ELEVEN! I'm fine with you fucking all the other whores that climb aboard but this crosses a fucking line!" Clint said, his fists balled up.

"Oh what the fuck ever. Go back to jerking your buddies off. You won't do shit." Reg said, turning back to face Weiss, who was visibly terrified. Suddenly, a pair of buff arms wrapped around Reg's neck and forced him up. "Oh, I'll do something fucker." Clint said, dragging Reg by the neck. Reginald was trying to escape but the grip was too tight, and he was beginning to lose oxygen. Clint carried him back towards the door he entered from. One of the other men with Clint opened the door, which led to the grab between two cars. Clint practically swept Reg off his feet and had him face the large gap. "How's this for doing shit?" Clint said before shoving Reginald into falling between the car. Weiss covered her eyes but not her ears, so she heard the sound of Reginald's terrified scream as he fell between the car. Weiss then felt a slight bump as the train ran Reginald over. Weiss remained cowering in fear for what felt like forever before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Weiss cowered in fear again.

"Hey, it's okay." Clint said, trying to comfort her.

"That's what the other guy said." Weiss replied, still keeping her eyes closed and still cowering from the man.

"Well, he's gone." Clint said, pausing briefly before questioning Weiss. "What's you name?" He asked.

Weiss opened her mouth to say her name but stopped. _What if they know who I am? What if they report me?_ She thought to herself.

"Do you have a name…?" Clint asked, confused by the pause caused by such a simple question.

 _Come on Weiss, think of something_ She continued to think. She tried to remember a nickname or name that would fit her appearance. _Sapphire, no. Navy, that's a boy's name. Think Weiss!_ Then she remembered how Klein used to call her a diamond in the rough to describe her life.

"Diamond." Weiss said finally, contempt with the fake name.

"Alright Diamond, and how old are you?" He said.

"Twelve." Weiss replied. She had been told to watch out for strangers and not to tell them anything personal, but something about this man gave her a sense of protection and comfort she had not felt in a very long time.

"Well Diamond, is it okay if I call you Diam for short?" Clint asked. Weiss nodded as she kinda like the abbreviation. "I'm gonna make sure nothing bad happens to you again on this ride. These are my friends Baker and Darron." The two other men gave Weiss a warm smile and a wave, to which Weiss returned the favor. "We're gonna let you sleep, cause I believe you need it." Weiss nodded but showed some sign of fear, to which Clint caught on.

"Don't worry. Like I said, we won't let anything bad happen. We were huntsman or soldiers before this. You can trust us. We still follow the huntsman code of no harming civilians." Clint said with a warm smile. In the back of her mind, Weiss knew not to trust him, but something about him made her feel more at home than she had felt at her actual home. "I'll have Baker watch the door to make sure no one gets in, okay?"

Weiss gave Clint a warm smile and nodded. Clint smiled back and beckoned the other two men to leave the room. But before they could leave, Weiss called out to them.

"Hey, if you see a short-bladed revolver knife, can you please return it? Reginald took it when he carried me off."

"You got it." Clint called out before he and the other men left the room. Once the door was closed, Weiss scooted off the dirty old mattress and found her way to one of the few remaining benches. I was by no means clean but was cleaner than the mattress. Weiss curled up on the bench and soon fell into a deep, happy sleep.

Back at Izu, things were chaotic. Word had spread fast that a crazy blacksmith had kidnapped Weiss Schnee and proceeded to kill himself and Weiss and as many others as possible. Local new stations were already on scene with the larger ones on their way. In total, sixteen people had been killed, including nine Schnee security officers, five civilians, and three shop owners, Barlow, Ms. C, and the lady who ran the city library next door when the explosion destroyed their buildings. Another thirty-seven were included, including Mortla and Mr. Schnee himself when his truck flipped over. Mortla suffered the most serious non-fatal injury, which was complete lose of his left arm at the shoulder by a piece of flying shrapnel. As Mortla was being treated, Jacques walked up to the makeshift tent he resided in.

"Can you excuse us for a moment?" Jacques said calmly but sternly to the two nurses who were treating Mortla. They quickly packed whatever they had in their hands and scurried out. Mortla lay on the makeshift cot, his left shoulder bandaged.

"Whatever you're going to do to me, just do it." Mortla said, morphine running through his system.

"I had a plan in case this happened. I had planned to cut off your left hand. I didn't want to, but I as prepared to. However, upon seeing you like this, I feel as if that punishment is no longer needed." Jacques said in a calm demeanor.

"I wonder why." Mortla muttered.

"You have failed me, Mortla. More than any other security officers has before. The other reason you're alive right now is because I don't feel like hiring another person at the moment. I will never let you forget this day. However, you are useless to me with an arm. So I'm going to have a robotic arm personally made for you so that you can do your job." Jacques said.

Mortla looked at him confused. "Are you serious, sir?" He questioned.

"I am. But just so we're clear. If you fail me, one more time, I will stab you with your own arm until it gets a new red paintjob. Is that clear?" Jacques said, leaning into Mortla's face.

"Yes, sir." Mortla said, not flinching at the sudden intrusion of his personal space.

"Alright then. I should have the arm here by next month. Until then, think about what you have done today. Cause you'll be the one answering the press questions." Jacques said with a smirk before leaving the tent. Once he was gone, the two nurses returned and continued to fix Mortla.

In Mortla's head, he began to ponder what had occurred this day, and how to enact revenge on the little girl that caused so much trouble.

 **Author's Note**

 **I don't have much to put as besides I hope you don't kill me over the attempted rape part. Rape bad, don't do it.**

 **Anyways, Follow, Favorite, and Review**

 **Peace.**


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